Mystery mayhem on Main Street in Tottenville

Staten Island Advance/Michael McWeeneyA police officer stands in front of an apartment building at 239 Main St. in Tottenville, where a fight between two men left one critically injured.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Three days before Christmas, a falling-out between friends in Tottenville led to a nasty fight that left one man critically injured.

The motive for the incident remains a mystery.

However, a police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the victim is “brain-dead,” and if he dies, the incident may be treated as a homicide.

Police descended on the apartment building at 239 Main St. at 5:42 p.m., and remained there well into the night.

Officers were tight-lipped as to what had transpired, saying only they were “working on the case,” but word on the street in Tottenville was that one man had stopped by another’s apartment earlier in the day and the two began arguing. A fight broke out and one of the men — believed to be the visitor — took a tumble down the stairs.

The injured party was taken to Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, where he is in critical condition.

No arrests were made, but if the victim’s family decides to withdraw life support and the man dies, the investigation would take a different turn, the police source said.

Jessica Buttle had surveyed the scene on Main Street, trying to figure out what happened. She said her “fiancé,” to whom she referred as Anthony, had gone to 239 Main earlier in the day to visit his friend Steve, whom she said lived on the second floor.

The Tottenville woman rushed to SIUH after learning the fight was between the two friends and that Anthony had been taken there.

People in the area expressed surprise over the altercation.

Of the critically injured man in the hospital, a bartender, who would identify herself only as Rena, from B&E Neighborhood Pub, said, “He’s so nice and respectful.”